Nepal Today

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

NEPAL ARMY BEING DEPLOYED IN IRAQ

UML, NC CENTRAL COMMITTEES MEET WEDNESDAYKathmandu, 1 June; Central committees of the UML leading the government and main opposition NC begin later Wednesday.UML central meet resumes Wednesday after it met briefly Tuesday.The meeting will resume discussions on the implementation of a five-point agreement between the Big Three—Maoists, NC and UML—for formation of a national government, completion of the peace process and constitution drafting.The committee will also discuss demand of KP Sharma Oli leading a section in the party demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal.Main opposition NC central committee also meets Wednesday after Sunday’s extension of a constituent assembly by three more months.The party is leading a campaign for the dismantling of the majority communist Khanal government and formation of a national unity government.The party central committee meets after the main opposition softened stiff demands for immediate resignation of the government and immediate surrender of Maoist weapons in containers as pre-conditions for assembly term extension.nnnnOHCHR-N TENURE BEING EXTENDED BY SIX MONTHS Kathmandu, 1 June: The cabinet Wednesday is discussing a sixth six-month extension of the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR)-Nepal.The tenure ends this week.The Geneva-based UN body has sought a two-year extension.It has already downscaled its operation by closing down regional offices outside the capital.UNCHR-Nepal and UNMIN entered Nepal after a concerted international campaign to degrade Nepali institutions for the entry of UN into Nepal.UNMIN returned home 15 January this year after a four-year operation.National Human Rights Organization Tuesday recommended a one-year extension.nnnn

NEPAL ARMY BEING DEPLOYED IN IRAQKathmandu, 1 June: The Cabinet is set to endorse Nepal Army’s decision to deploy a 176-member peacekeeping unit in Iraq. The troop mobilisation will start in the war ravaged nation once the Cabinet okays the proposal, Phanindra dahalwrites in The Kathmandu Post.Early this year, UN had sought Nepali soldiers’ presence to protect UN buildings and staff at the Bagdhad based UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI). The Defence Ministry has moved Nepal Army’s detail proposal on mobilisation in Iraq at the Cabinet. Under the agreement with UN, the Nepali peacekeeping squad will be stationed in Basra, a port city situated 549 km southeast of Baghdad and Kirkuk, an-oil province 250 km north of Bagdhad. Soldiers will undertake both static and mobile duties i.e. guarding UN buildings and providing security to UN convoys in Basra and Kirkuk. “The proposal is under consideration at the Cabinet and likely to be endorsed soon. The deployment procedures will takes place after Cabinet approval,” said Defence Secretary Nabin Kumar Ghimire. In March, the Defence Ministry had expressed reservations over the proposal to deploy soldiers on mobile duty citing it would expose them to greater threats in one of the most dangerous war zones of the world. A senior military official said that Nepal Army plans to deploy soldiers from its elite Ranger Battalion in Iraq. “They have specialisation in operations based on mobility and counter insurgency operations, so we plan to deploy them in the first phase,” said a two-star general. “We take this offer as an opportunity to show our capability to the world and learn skills in a sophisticated war zone.” Sources said Nepal Army will provide personal weapons to soldiers to be deployed in Iraq while UN will provide other logistics. The troops to be stationed in Basra and Kirkuk will be divided into two groups - around 50 will be involved in guarding UN installations and around 30 will be responsible for mobile duties in each of the places. The UN wanted to replace the guard contingent from Fiji, whose deployment under Blue Helmets, was opposed by some powerful countries including Australia following the 2006 coup initiated by Fijian Military leader Frank Bainimarama. Initially, UN Headquarters had demanded 223 soldiers for its Iraq mission. However, the number declined after it decided to retain some Fijian peacekeepers. Currently, a contingent comprising 205 Fijian peacekeepers provide security to UNAMI. They are supported by two military experts from Denmark and Australia, respectively and one from Nepal, according to the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations. Nepal Army’s experience in Iraq dates back to 1951 when a 50-member contingent was deployed for peacekeeping operations under the UN Guards Contingent Team in 1991. Four Nepali continents completed their duties by the time the UN mission terminated in mid-90.Nnnn

INDIA PROPOSES CHANGE OF KOSI RIVER COURSE

Kathmandu, 1 June: India is putting pressure on Nepal to change the course of the Koshi River, which has shifted toward east after breaching the embankment over two years ago, by constructing a pilot channel that may sweep away a Nepali village development committee (VDC), Prem Dhakal writes in Republica.

India had unilaterally started construction of the pilot channel around two months ago and work was halted after the Saptari District Administration Office issued a directive around seven weeks ago to immediately halt the construction following protests by locals. A senior officer at the Department of Irrigation (DOI), which monitors the Koshi barrage from the Nepali side, confirmed that the department did not give the pilot channel a go ahead as Gobargada, an island VDC of Saptari with a population of around 1,500 to the south of the barrage, will be swept away if Koshi were brought to the central course. “They did not consult us, as required by the agreement, before starting the pilot channel.

The irrigation department of Bihar contacted us several times after the work was halted. We asked them to use the diplomatic channel in the matter around a month ago,” the officer said.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has himself started to lobby the Indian central government to take up the issue of constructing the pilot channel with the Nepal government.

“The center should immediately take up with Nepal the issue of strengthening and protecting the embankment in the wake of forceful stoppage of work in Nepal and digging of a pilot channel to re-establish the central flow of the river to avoid undue pressure on both the western and the eastern embankments,” the Press Trust of India (PTI) had quoted Kumar as saying on Friday.

If the digging of the channel is not resumed, he would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and urge them to take up the issue with Nepal, the PTI report added. A local journalist in Saptari said Kumar had even visited the site on Saturday and urged Nepali journalists to stop writing negatively about the pilot channel.

The DOI officer said bringing Koshi to the central course may be even more dangerous for Nepal as Koshi may take the western course and threaten the Hanumannagar area to the south of the barrage if the work were not to go exactly according to plan. There is no Nepali land to the south of the barrage on the eastern side and the river has already been under control on the north side of the barrage.

Current status of Koshi

The DOI officer said there was not any real threat on the Nepali side this year. “There is little threat on the western side as the river has taken eastern course and things are better than 2008 (August) when the embankment was breached even on the eastern side,” the officer added.

The Indian government became serious about Koshi after the breach, the officer claimed, and the Koshi High Level Technical Committee -- that includes the Deputy Director General of DOI and Chairman of the Ganga Flood Control Commission from the Indian side -- has been formed.

“The high-level committee meets every November to decide the course of action for the coming monsoon and India carries out the maintenance work with Nepali approval as per the agreement,” the officer explained. The whole maintenance work is done by India, the officer contended, with India authorized to work up to 32 km north of the barrage on Nepal´s consent as per the agreement.

The spurs are being repaired, porcupines (barriers that reduce velocity of water flow and stop sand) are being placed at different places for the past two years and dredging machines are being used to weaken the obstructions created by silt at banks. The officer attributed the 2008 breach to such obstructions claiming that the water flow was just 178,000 cusec at the time of breach.

“The water level crosses 300,000 cusec on several occasions every year,” the officer revealed.

The barrage was constructed to withstand pressure of 800,000 cusec when it was completed in early 1960s. “But if the water flow were to reach 800,000 cusec, water would overflow from both eastern and western sides of the barrage as the capacity of barrage has been drastically reduced by massive sedimentation,” the officer claimed.

“I am told the level had reached 800,000 cusec just a couple of years after completion of the project but it has not crossed 400,000 cusec after that so we can´t exactly forecast the threshold,” the officer added. Nnnn

MAIN CONSTITUTION DRAFTING MEET STARTS

MAIN CONSTITUTION DRAFTING MEETSTARTS

Kathmandu, 1 June: A meeting of the main constitution drafting committee headed by Nilambar Acharya began meeting WednesdayThe committee meets after the tenure of a constituent assembly was extended by three months to complete the peace process and draft a delayed constitution.The first draft has to be prepared by the extended three-month deadline.The committee will discuss renewing the tenure of a five-member sub-committee headed by Maoist Chairman Prachanda to resolve remaining 21 differences on contentious issues o be included in a basic law.Nnnn

SPECIAL COMMITTEE MEETS

Kathmandu, 1 June: A special committee on integration, resettlement and supervision of 19,000 plus Maoist former combatants headed by the prime minister meets later Wednesday.Three parties agreed this week separate former fighters into two groups for integration and resettlement.Nnnn

FORMER BANK EXECUTIVES ARRESTED

Kathmandu, 1 June: Rabindra Bahadur Singh, former executive chairman of troubled United Development Bank of Bara. and Radha Krishna Amatya were arrested from the capital for defrauding the institution.Amatya was a director.The bank was declared troubled by Nepal Rashtra Bank.Nnnn

BUDDHA AIR TO START TUMLINGTAR FLIGHTS

Kathmandu, 1 June: Buddha Air will start twice daily flights using Bech 1900 D. between Kathmandu and Tumlingtar from 5 June using Thrice weekly flights between Biratnagar and the town the east hill district town will also be launched.The airport was recently upgraded.nnnn

MAOIST MILITARY LEADER SENTENCED FOR MURDER OF KATHMANDU BISINESSMAN

FURTHER DETAILS OF PM’S ADDRESS

Kathmandu, 31 May: Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal Tuesday asked main opposition NC to be “serious” and “effort work for national understanding” ”NC has a big role as an opposition,” the premier said in an address over radio and television.“Five-point agreement has to be implemented,” he said in his second address to the nation after assuming office 3 February with Maoist support. “I am ready to handover leadership of government,” he said.” Form my side there will be no shortcoming,”Khanal added: “The five-point agreement has to be implemented.”He talked of foreign play in Nepal.“For our petty interests, we shouldn’t appeal to others,” without naming countries..He accused for a nation-wide party campaign this month delaying programme of a standing committee he heads for Maoist former fighter integration and resettlement.nnnn

DETAILS OF UML CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEET

Kathmandu, 31 May: UML central meet was adjourned until Wednesday morning after a short meeting Tuesday discussing implementation of a five-point agreement between three parties and formation of a national government.The meeting was adjourned to accommodate Premier Jhalanath Khanal’s address to the nation Tuesday.Tuesday’s meeting discussed implementation of a five-point agreement ,including Khanal’s resignation, Vice-chairman Bamdeb Gautam said.nnnn.

MAOIST VICE-CHAIRMAN SHRESTHA ORGANIZES CAMP FOR PARTY UNITY

Kathmandu, 31 May: Maoist Vice-chairman Narayan Kazi Shrestha organized a two-hour camp in the capital for nearly 300 workers for unity in the party.The biggest party, which is also communist, is divided in three factions.Party workers should be active in promiting unity, Shestha told the meet. Nnnn

MAOIST MILITARY LEADER SENTENCED FOR MURDER

Kathmandu, 31 May: Then Maoist Brigade Commander Govinda Batala was sentenced Tuesday to three-year jail sentence by a single bench of Chitwan court district for abduction and murder three years ago of Kathmandu businessman from the capital of Ram Shrestha.Batala is in detention..Shrestha was murdered at a Maoist camp in Chitwan under UN observation.Three others accused are absconding.Nnnn

FOUR NEPALI WOMEN CLIMB ANNAPURNA-1V

Kathmandu, 31 May: Four women members of a Nepali expedition scaled the 7636 meters high Annapurna-IV Tuesday in the West in a premier effort solely by Nepali female climbers Nima Rai of Solokhumbu, Rama Rai, Shanti Rai and Shrashwati BK scaled the peak.nnnn

PM KHANAL SEEKS FORGIVENESS IN SELF-CONFESSION FOR FAILURE TO DELIVER

PM KHANAL CONFESSES AND SEEKS FORGIVENESS FOR PARTY ;EADER FAILURES

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 31 May: In what Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal personally termed a ‘self-confession’ in a 12-minutee national address at 4.10 in the afternoon Tuesday, he admitted political parties and leaders failed to deliver results ‘in the last five years’.“Political parties and leaders have failed to deliver for which we have to confess,” he said in an address broadcast live by radio and television from the meeting hall of the National Planning Commission from Singha Durbar.He made the confession two days after three parties facilitated a three-month extension of a constituent assembly (CA) Sunday morning by signing a five-point agreement.“I ask for forgiveness,” he said.‘There was no alternative to the extension of the CA tenure,” he said.He also said there was no alternative to a national government and asked for main NC ‘I will shoulder responsibility for it,” he said and suggested .he won’t resign immediately inviting anarchy .:”We should be careful from experience,” Khanal said in apparent reference to the continuance to of his predecessor Madhav Kumar Nepal as government for seven months after he resigned under Maoist pressure without an alternative government.‘No effort will be saved for formation of a national government,” he said.’There’s no alternative to a national government.”‘Instability will be costly for neighbours,” Khanal warned.Nnnn

SIX KILLED IN YARSHAGUNBA COLLECTION

Kathmandu, 31 May: Six persons were killed last week while collecting yarshagumba, the Himalayan herbal Viagra, from remote mountain region of Saipal in Bhajang in the far-West, first reports said.Two slipped and died while four others froze.Further etails are awaited from the remote region.nnnn

AGREEMENT TO RENEW PRACHANDA SUB-COMMITTEE TENURE

AGREEMENT TO RENEW PRACHANDA SUB-COMMITTEE TENURE

Kathmandu, 31 May: Major parties agreed Tuesday to renew the tenure of an empowered sub-committee chaired by Chairman Prachanda to resolve contentious points to be included in a proposed constitution.Parties agreed to an extension of the tenure which ended Friday at a meeting called by Speaker Subash Nemwang.A meeting of a main constitution drafting committee headed by Nilambar Acharya will take a formal decision Wednesday.Nnnn

UML CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEETS TUESDAY

Kathmandu, 31 May: Central committee of UML leading the communist majority government meets later Wednesday.The committee will discuss implementation of Sunday’s five-point agreement between UCPN (Maoist),NC and UML.It will also discuss designating internal party responsibilities and meeting of a national representative council nnnn

PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE TO MONITOR FIVE-POINT AGREEMENT

Kathmandu, 31 May: A parliamentary committee headed by Speaker Subash Nemwang is being formed to monitor a five-point agreement between UCPN(Maoist), main opposition NC and UML leading the communist majority government.The Sunday morning agreement initialed by the chiefs of the Big Three Sunday facilitated the three-month extension of a constituent assembly (CA) ‘temporarily saving; it.Nemwang has asked parties to nominate members to the proposed body.Such a monitoring committee wasn’t formed when the CA term was extended by one year in May 2011.Nnnn

INFLATION 10.6 PERCENT

Kathmandu, 31 May: Inflation in mid-April measured by consumer price index was 10.6 percent compared to 14.6 percent in the same period last year, figures released by Nepal Rashtra Bank (NRB) said.But food and beverage price jumped 17.3 percent.Non-food and service group prices increased 5.2 and 16.1 percent respectively.Nnnn

MEDIA GOOGLE

“As we do not have any religious marathon, I’m sure this will be a very unique marathon and the first of its kind in the world.

(Thai Ambassador Maris Sangiapong proposing Buddhist Circuit Marathon in 2012, Republica, 31 May)‘The name of a common front hasn’t been finalized right now. A front of small parties is being discussed now.”

Kathmandu, 31 May: The country’s Balance of Payment (BoP) deficit has once again started to worsen. Despite deceleration in the growth rate of trade deficit and improvement in export, BoP deficit has reached Rs 14.79 billion as of mid-April, according to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) statistics, The Kathmandu Post reports..

The central bank had planned to bring down the deficit to nil within the first five months of the current fiscal year from a whopping Rs 23 billion last year, but failed. A negative balance of payment means more money is flowing out of the country than coming in.

The situation had improved dramatically at the beginning of the current fiscal year with the deficit hovering around just Rs 310 million, but the situation started to worsen from the second month.

The deficit jumped to Rs 12.57 billion in the seventh month from Rs 5 billion, and continued to remain above Rs 10 billion. Because of the chronic BoP deficit, the country’s foreign exchange reserve has continued to remain low over the last several months compared to the corresponding months last year. The forex reserve declined by 5.9 percent to Rs 253 billion in the first nine months compared to same period last year.

“The constant BoP deficit is a result of slow reimbursement of foreign aid,” said Maha Prasad Adhikari, deputy governor of NRB. In the first nine months, both transfer of grant and loans have decreased, according to NRB. The grant transfer declined to Rs 15.76 billion from Rs 19.72 billion and loan transfer came down to Rs 3.1 billion from Rs 3.43 billion.

Adhikari, however, said the situation has improved in May. Despite worsening BoP situation, the central bank was firm on its projection of achieving a surplus of Rs 9 billion in BoP at the end of the year, in the mid-term review of the monetary policy.

Former president of Nepal Bankers’ Association Sashin Joshi said low disbursement of foreign aid and increased growth in loan repayment could be the reason behind the continual BoP deficit.

As the country’s trade deficit has improved with slowed import growth and increasing export, this cannot be the reason behind increasing BoP deficit. Export grew by 5.7 percent and import by a mare 2.8. That’s why trade deficit grew by a marginal 2.2 percent. Last year, export had declined by 10.9 percent and import had grown by 39.4 percent. Rising price of petroleum products could contribute to increasing BoP deficit.

However, a former senior NRB official said unauthorised import of gold and rising capital flight might have fuelled the BoP deficit. Gold traders say they are largely dependent on smuggled gold as purchasing gold from banks is complicated.

The International Monetary Fund has already provided Nepal around $42 million under its rapid credit facility which is given to countries facing serious BoP deficit. As Nepal is struggling to improve its BoP situation, the government has also asked IMF to provide loan under its extended credit facility (ECF) window to improve the situation. Under ECF, Nepal can get up to Rs 9 billion from IMF.Nnnn

Monday, May 30, 2011

WORLD BANK DOWN GRADING NEPAL PRESENCE

WORLD BANK CLOSING DOWN OFFICE OF NEPAL COUNTRY DIRECTOR Kathmandu, 31 May: World Bank is closing down the office of its country director in Nepal, Madhusudan Paudel writes in Annapurna Post.Only a contact office will be maintained.The decision of the bank management is being presented to the board for endorsement in a few days.Arrangement is being made to look after Nepal from its office in Dhaka.Economists said the decision taken as an austerity measure is bad for Nepal’s economy.Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari has been briefed of the decision.nnnnPOWER ABUSE SLUR ON EX-CJ SHRESTHAKathmandu, 31 May: Former Chief Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha has been accused of misusing judicial power to settle score with former Chief Commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority Lalit Bahadur Limbu and ex-commissioner Beda Prasad Siwakoti., Ananta Raj Luitel writes in The Himalayan Times.

Years after CIAA ex-commissioners had decided to seize Shrestha’s land accusing him of encroaching government land, Shrestha directed government authorities to punish Limbu and Siwakoti for allegedly directing the government to register Thapathali-based public la-nd in name of individuals.

Issuing a judicial notice, the ex-CJ has directed the authorities to punish both for directing registration of public land in the names of Purna Bahadur Tandukar, Durga Tandukar and Nani Chhori Tandukar on March 30.

Responding to the judicial notice, parliamentary State Affairs Committee (SAC) directed the CIAA to punish its ex-commissioners, but the CIAA is yet to take action against them.

On November 24, 2008, the ex-commissioners had decided to seize the land registered in the name of individuals, including ex-CJ Shrestha. The commissioners had directed the Land Revenue Office Dilli Bazar to get back the land from Shrestha even after the apex court upheld the land registration in Shrestha’s name.

The CIAA order, obtained by The Himalayan Times, stated that Shrestha had encroached upon plot No 177 area 0-3-2-3 situated at KMC Ward No 32, Dhobikhola, divided from Baneshwor Mahadevsthan Ward No 5 Plot No 143.

“It seems individuals encroached upon land and got it registered. Even if the government’s land is registered in the name of anyone, it must be transferred to the government as per Section 24 (2) of the Land Revenue Act, 1977,” the decision stated.

A year later, ex-CJ Shrestha and his sons, Sanjeev Kumar Shrestha, Rajiv Shrestha and Ajib Shrestha filed a petition on May 30, 2010 claiming that plot No 177 was registered in their names as per the verdict of the Supreme Court. The other plots divided from Baneshwor Mahadevsthan Ward No 5 Plot No 143 are still sub judice in the apex court.

“He had encroached government land so we directed him to return it to the government,” Siwakoti told THT.

“Whatever we did was legally correct but I am surprised why he issued the judicial notice against us,” Siwakoti said.

He alleged that Shrestha had gathered evidences against him on his own and directed to punish him.

Limbu, however, declined to comment on the matter. “Since other cases similar to this case are still sub judice in the apex court I cannot comment on it,” he added.

Ex-CJ claimed he did not know anything about the CIAA order and the process initiated by LRO. Nnnn

MADESHI MORCHA KEY PLAYER IN POLITICS-

Kathmandu, 31 May: A day after the Constituent Assembly got an extension for three months, Madhesi leaders on Monday said Madhes-related issues will be the cornerstone of politics until the CA’s new deadline expires, Pranab Kharel writes in The Kathmandu Post..

There have been demands for greater inclusion of Madhesis in the national army and the civil service. The leaders have been demanding inclusion of 10,000 Madhesi personnel in the Army. In the run-up to the CA term extension, the alliance of five Madhes-based parties—Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha—played a crucial role in shaping the final five-point deal. Point 3 of the deal calls for effective implementation of past agreements struck with the Madhesi Morcha, including making the Nepal Army more inclusive.

The Morcha’s 71 lawmakers abstained from voting on the CA extension, saying that the five-point agreement did not categorically include their demands. One of their key demands has been to spell out the number of Madhesis to be included in the Nepal Army.

According to Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party leader Hridesh Tripathy, the decision to abstain from voting has shown that the big three political parties cannot impose their will on others and that the Madhes-based parties will have to be made part of the decision-making process.

In an interview to the Post published on Monday, Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Ganatantrik Chairman Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta said the deal was possible because of the Morcha. He clarified that since the NC and the Maoists had been sticking to their guns, the Morcha proposed a middle-path, which made the deal possible.

On how the Morcha will take forward its agenda, Tripathy said it will be done through the CA, where they will try to incorporate the Madhes agendas in the statute.Nnnn

YOGENDRA MAN SHRESTHA FLEES TO INDIA AFTER RS.5 BILLION ROBBERY

Kathmandu, 31 May 31: Former chairman of Nepal Share Markets and Finance (NSMF) Yogendra Man Shrestha has been reportedly living in New Delhi and threatening NSMF promoters for their cooperation with the police investigations. Shrestha has been charged with embezzling over Rs 5 billion deposited with NSMF, Sundar KHanal writes in Republica. .

According to sources in the police department, a special investigation has been initiated to hunt down Shrestha. The police department is expecting necessary cooperation from the Indian authorities. Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), the elite crime investigation body of Nepal Police, is handling the case. "Shrestha is still trying to outwit investigators by threatening the promoters of NSMF," said police officials, who also added that those receiving such threats initially did not want to complain to the police.

Shrestha had fled ostensibly to India immediately after Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) initiated action against him. NRB had ousted him from NSMF as per Bank and Financial Investigation Act and frozen his accounts and property following his refusal to show the central bank´s inspection team documents concerning various loans.

"He ran away after NRB decided to hand over the case to Nepal Police," said officials.

NSMF, a category D financial institution which has already raised its paid-up capital to Rs 2 billion and completed other formalities with an eye to upgrading itself to a commercial bank, has huge deposits of Nepal Army, Rastriya Beema Sansthan and Citizen´s Investment Fund totaling Rs 690 million.

Shrestha, in the capacity of chairman, was involved in irregularities and use of deposits for personal purposes. Nepal Police has also implicated Shrestha´s wife Geeta, a promoter of Macchapuchhre Bank, and their elder son and frozen all of their properties and accounts.

Shrestha also owns one Star Holding Company that has built a swanky business complex named Star Mall at Putalisadk.

The Central Investigation Bureau is preparing to file case against Shrestha as per Bank Offence (Punishment) Act 2064 BS. If convicted he could face 3-5 years jail and fine equal to the embezzled amount.

The case could also open the way for two other accusations against him as per Corruption Control Act 2059 BS and Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Act 2048 BS. Nnnn

USA PROPOSES MILITARY PACT

PM KHANAL, PRACHANDA MEET,

Kathmandu, 31 May: Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal and Maoist Chairman Prachanda held discussions Tuesday implementation of a five-point agreement between UCPN (Maoist), NC and UML.This is the first time the chairmen of UCPN (Maoist) and UML met following Sunday’s extension of the constituent assembly by another three months.The first-point agreement facilitated the extension of the assembly tenure.But the agreement has already become controversial Main opposition NC is demanding immediate resignation for formation of a national government while the premier says he’ll resign only after an environment is created for the a national government takeover Others demanded new government formation, constitution drafting and peace process conclusion should move together; just one issue can’t be selectively tackled, they argue.nnnn

US PROPOSES MILITARY AGREEMENT

Kathmandu, 31 May: USA has proposed a new military agreement—Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA)—with Nepal, Bishnu Subedi writes in Annapurna Post.The defence ministry is studying the agreement sent through the US embassy.According to a source, defence ministry has forwarded the proposal to army headquarters asking for suggestions. The agreement. according to experts, will facilitate the reach of US forces in Nepal.It will also pave the way for USA to open a base in Nepal under special circumstances.The agreement will give US forces legal and security protection while providing them facilities.The agreement will give US forces in Nepal other facilities for their stay and departure.The agreement was first suggested during rule pf King Gyanendra and the army wasn’t positive at the instance of the palace.The agreement was renewed coinciding with the recent visit of Army Chief Chatraman Singh Gurung to USA at the invitation of US government.Gen. Gurung was received with special honour.Diplomatic lobbying has started to sign the agreement.The agreement will give US forces protection against criminal activities.Sources said previous US initiatives for such an agreement were foiled following concerns of others and southern neighbours.nnnn

MAIN CONSTITUTION DRAFTING COMMITTEE MEETS WEDNESDAY

MAIN CONSTITUTION DRAFTING COMMITTEE MEETS WEDNESDAY

Kathmandu, 31 May: A meeting of the main constitution drafting committed headed by Nilambar Acharya has been summoned called Wednesday.The committee will to extend the tenure of an empowered five-member sub-committee chaired b Chairman Prachanda with representatives of major parties will discuss its extension.Its tenure ended 27 May; it was empowered to discuss contentious issues to be included in for a proposed constitution.Differences between major players were narrowed down from 80 to 21.The main committee meets after Sunday’s extension of the constituent assembly by three more months Sunday to prepare a first preliminary draft of a constitution. that hasn’t been completed in more than three years.nnnn

DR. RAMMAN TRASHIT DEAD

Kathmandu, 31 May: Songwriter Dr. Ramman Trashit died Tuesday. He was 71.He was suffering diabetes and high blood pressure.Trashit penned more than 150 songs for Radio Nepal.Nnnn

APPA SHERPA RIDICULES POLITICIANS

Kathmandu, 31 May: Appa Sherpa, who improved his personal world record by climbing the 8848 meters high Mount Everest for the 21st time this spring ridiculed Nepal’s politicians to promulgate a constitution in two efforts in three years. “:I have scaled Mount Everest 21 times. But politicians haven’t succeeded in going beyond base camp,” Appa said while announcing he won’t set foot atop the world’s highest peak again Appa, who moved to USA four years ago, has made such declarations before.Nnnn

LUMBUWAN STATE COUNCIL RETURNS SEIZED DOCUMEPTS, LAPTOPS

Kathmandu, 31 May: Federal Limbuwan State Council Tuesday returned documents and laptops of election seized by workers during a drive to collect data for issuing new digitalized voters’ identity cards in east Nepal.The documents and laptops were returned to commission officials in Sunsari.The items were returned following a 11-point agreement between the Council and election officials.The Council had been obstructing the commission work in nine districts beyond Arum river.The Council also welcomed Sunday’s extension of the constituent assembly tenure.Nnnn

TWO CONVICTED,SENTENCED FOR MURDER OF JOURNALIST

TWO CONVICTED AND SENTENCED FOR MURDER OF JOURNALIST SAH

Kathmandu, 30 May: Two persons were sentenced to life imprisonment Monday by Bara district court single benchhe murder of journalist Birendra Sah for and their assets seized.shwar Poudel, the two Maoist cadres who had been in judicial custody for two years were handed down the sentence.Managar Giri and Ram Ekbal Sahani ,in judicial custody two years, were sentenced Maoists were charged for the murder 5 October 2007 Three others have also accused are absconding.nnnn

DR. DAVID MOLDEN OF USA WILL LEAD ICIMOD

Kathmandu, 30 May: Dr.David Molden has been appointed director general of Nepal headquartered International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), an announcement said.He will assume responsibilities 1 December.Dr. Molden, an American development specialist, succeeds, Dr.Andreas Schild Nnnn

PM KHANAL SAYS HE WON'T RESIGN

PM KHANAL REITERATES HE WON’T RESIGN

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 30 May: Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal said Monday he won’t resign without ‘completion of preparations for an alternative government” and recalled his predecessor Madhav Kumar Nepal continued for seven months as caretaker government chief even after resigning.Khanal without naming five Madeshbadi parties, revealed ‘some parties’ demanding his resignation threatened they would’ declare making Birgunj capital’.“After preparations for an alternative national government, I will resign,” he said.“It was not possible to save peace process and constitution drafting’ without the extension of the assembly tenure and said the country would would have ‘headed toward anarchy..“This five-point agreement is important and it has saved the assembly and created hope,”Khanal said..”The premier said three months aren’t “adequate’ to meet responsibilities but added parties should ‘move ahead with unity; for achievement to goals.‘The next three months will be a dangerous testing time for all parties and Nepalis,” Chairman Prachanda said and a ‘serious accident’ could result if extended mandate to complete the peace process and constitution drafting aren’t met.The Maoist boss called the extension a ‘big exercise’.‘This is an agreement is to maintain a status quo,” Deb Gurung, Maoist leader affiliated with PLA said.He revealed there was no discussion on the five-point agreement in the party implying thereby Chairman Prachanda signed it unilaterally Sunday morning with NC and UML top leaders. RPP-Nepal doubted the implementation of a five-point agreement.as Chairman Kamal Thapa said there ‘was no need of protests’ against the extension of the assembly because ‘internal contradictions’ that will be hurdles in its implementation. .The party will act will act as the main opposition in parliament and constituent assembly, he said, as other small parties opposed the assembly tenure extension but voted for it in parliament at the last moment..Four lawmakers of the party won’t collect allowances fro the assembly/parliament, the party announced.Nnnn

MAOIST MINISTER AGNI SAPKOTA ASKED TO FURNISH WRITTEN REPLY

Kathmandu, 30 May: A one-judge bench of the supreme court Monday directed Communication Maoist Communication Minister Maoist Agni Sapkota to furnish in writing in the next 15 days why he shouldn’t be recalled for rights violations during the 10-year people’s war.Such a demand was made by some rights workers in a writ filed at the court.The apex court asked defendants—the prime minister, home minister and communication minister—to present themselves at the court Sunday.Kavre court is investigating a complaint at the district court his involvement for abduction and murder of Arjun Lama during the insurgency.Nnnn

NC, UML CENTRAL COMMITTEES MEETING

Kathmandu, 30 May: Main opposition NC central committee meets Wednesday.Concluding the peace process, national government, implementation of a five-point agreement that helped to extend the constituent assembly tenure by three months Sunday will be discussed.UML central committee also meets Tuesday; the party is leading the communist majority government headed Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal, who is also party chairman of the third largest party.The committee will review the current political situation.nnnn

TOLA RAM DUGAD CREMATED

Kathmandu, 30 May: Industrialist Tola Ram Dugad was cremated at Pashupatinath Aryaghat MondayHe died Sunday of a heart attack.His only son Mul Chan lit the funeral pyre.Dugad was also chairman of Sunrise Bank which remained closed Monday.Nnnn

JIMMY CARTER WELCOMES ASSEMBLY TENURE EXTENSION

Kathmandu, 30 May: Former US President Jimmy Carter welcomed Sundy morning’s three-month constituent assembly extension in a statement Monday.Carter heads the Carter Center which maintains an office in Nepal.The Carter Center normally oversees elections but in Nepalit has been encouraging it as well He hoped peace process and constitution would be completed in the next three months.Nnnn

WORK RESUMES TO DRAFT CONSTITUTION

MAIN ACHARYA CONSTITUTION DRAFTING COMMITTEE RE-STARTS WORK

Kathmandu, 30 May: Main constitution drafting committee chaired by Nilambar Acharya started informal work Monday to re-start work on completing a constitution in the next five months after parliament Sunday extended the tenure of a constituent assembly (CA) by three more months.The main committee is one of a dozen subject committees under the assembly.The main committee will discuss extending the tenure that ended Friday of a high-powered five-member sub-committee headed by Chairman Prachanda to sort out differences on remaining 22 articles to be incorporated in a proposed constitution to institutionalize a declared republic in the next three months.The assembly now has to complete a first draft in that deadline.CA couldn’t complete its responsibilities in three years; there are fundamental differences between major parties on a democratic constitution and a federal state structure.Without addressing fundamental differences, resolution in the sub-committee of 22 points to be incprporated in a constitution is meaningless.The tenure of the Prachanda committee one day before the deadline to announce a basic law Saturday.nnnn ,UNCERTAINTY OVER TIMELY BUDGET : - Kathmanndu, 30 May: Once again, timely presentation of the budget seems unlikely. The call for the prime minister’s resignation in the five-point agreement signed among the three major political parties on Sunday morning to save the Constituent Assembly (CA) has created doubt over the timely presentation of the budget for the next fiscal year also, The Kathmandu Postreports.

With just one-and-a-half months remaining for the next fiscal year’s budget announcement, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) is working day-and-night to prepare the budget draft. Ministry officials say they are technically ready to present the budget within a few days if the political leadership takes a call.

However, in the event of Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal’s resignation, budget presentation may be pushed back. What has made the situation more complicated for ministry officials is the three main parties’ varying interpretation of the prime minister’s resignation point in the pact. Uncertainty persists whether the current or the new government will bring the budget.

“If the prime minister seeks to lengthen his stay in office until a consensus is forged for the formation of the new government, it may invite wrath of the opposition parties,” said former finance secretary Rameshwor Khanal. “And, a delay in forming the new government may create a similar situation the country witnessed last year.”

Last year, then Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal’s resignation just ahead of the budget session saw the budget being delayed by four months. Ministry officials say the political leadership should any how prevent a delayed budget presentation this year for the revival of the economy. “The situation looks similar to that of last year, but we’ve to avoid that situation,” said Keshav Acharya, chief economic advisor at the ministry.

The ministry is working to bring a budget sized at Rs 381 billion for the next fiscal year. However, the present demand is for more than Rs 400 billion, according to Bodh Raj Niraula, chief of the budget division at the ministry. According to Niraula, all the ministries have forwarded programmes to be included in the next budget to MoF.

The government had decided to bring the next year’s budget on May 3, but the plan was aborted due to strong opposition from the Nepali Congress (NC). It again announced to bring the budget before May 28, but could not muster the courage to move ahead unilaterally amid growing opposition.

Timely presentation of the annual budget has become the need of the hour amid slow capital expenditure. Delay in the budget presentation for the last three consecutive years has taken a toll on development and economic growth of the country.

This year, capital expenditure has been slow and revenue growth stands at just 14 percent against the requirement of 20 percent to meet the target of Rs 216 billion. As of mid-April, only Rs 33 billion (25 percent) out of Rs 129 billion budget allocated for capital expenditure has been spent.

Development projects have become major victims of budget delay. Even first priority (P1) projects struggled to get adequate resources this year. Until last month, several projects were in the process of getting approval from the National Planning Commission as the approval process began late. “This has affected the country’s economic growth,” said Khanal. The country’s economic growth is expected to stand at 3.47 percent this fiscal year even after the government reduced the target to 4.5 percent from earlier 5.5 percent.

Khanal said the parties should agree on continuing existing projects instead of adding new ones to bring the budget on time. “They can also discuss the revenue policy at the Parliament’s Finance and Labour Committee for forging a consensus on the policy,” he said.

Whenever the budget has been presented late, the country’s capital expenditure has been low. In 2008-09, when the then Maoist-led government brought the budget two months late, the capital expenditure remained at Rs 73 billion, against the target of Rs 91 billion. In 2009-10, the expenditure remained at Rs 89 billion against the target of Rs 106 billion.

The government has revised the capital expenditure target at 110 billion this year through the mid-term review of the budget. The earlier target was Rs 129 billion.Nnnn

POLISH WOMAN FIRST TO COMPLETE EVEREST MARATHON SUNDAY

Kathmandu, 30 May: In the foreign category, ,Sylvia Zakkowiee became the first woman to win the win the title and create a new record in the Everest Marathon, Republica reports.The cross-country skier from Poland finished the marathon in 5 hours, 34 minutes 6 seconds.“It’s the best day in my life. It’s incredible because I didn’t expect it. It’s a bi surprise,” she said after winning the title.A participant of the Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010, Zaskowiee switched to marathon after she broke her left arm last summer.“I decided to join marathon during my one-year break after the skiing accident. It was a big disappointment, for me,” she said.Nnnn

MAOISTS ACCUSED FOR VANDALIZING PREMISES OF INDIAN COMPANY STILL FREE IN FAR-WEST

Kathmandu, 30 May : Police have yet to make any arrests despite identifying the persons involved in setting three buildings of Indian power developer GMR--which is currently carrying out construction of Upper Karnali Hydropower Project--in Paltada area of Dailekh district on fire last Sunday, Khalendra Sejuwal reports in Republica from Surkhet.

The locals have accused Maoist cadres Binny Shahi of Chamunda and Dirgha Bahadur Shahi of Layanta of arson in their statements to the police. But police claimed lack of formal complaint by the company has delayed arrests. “They have not lodged any formal complaint and this has made it difficult for us to arrest the culprits,” a police officer with Daiekh Police said. The fact that the persons are Maoists, the officer claimed, has also further delayed procedures.

Maoist politburo member and Seti-Mahakali state committee in-charge Dharmendra Bastola hailed the attack on GMR though he didn´t officially own up the incident.

“A few days ago, action was taken against Upper Karnali, which was a very good thing,” Bastola had said at a program in Birendranagar on Friday. “Action against GMR should be taken as an act in the national interest, whoever may have taken it.”

A group of around 25-30 persons allegedly led by the duo had barged into Paltada premises at about 4 pm chanting slogans that Upper Karnali was not in national interest and set ablaze all three office buildings of the company.

The preliminary report by the police had put the material loss of GMR at Rs 11 million. Nnnn

Sunday, May 29, 2011

AMERICAN HELD CAPTIVE RELEASED

FURTHER DETAILS OF FOREIGN SUPPORT FOR ASSEMBLY TERM EXTENSION

Kathmandu, 30 May: British Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt also welcomed the constituent assembly term extension.“This should be coupled with rapid and irreversible progress on the integration and rehabilitation of the former Maoist combatants, as well as other outstanding issues from the comprehensive peace accord,” a statement issued by the British embassy said.Japan also welcomed a prolonged temporary resolution of the deadlock.“It is sincere wish that all the concerned political parties redouble their efforts to complete the peace process and drafting of the new constitution within the revised time-frame through constructive dialogue and mutual understanding and achieve the people’s aspiration entrusted to constituent assembly three years ago,” the Japanese embassy said.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also welcomed the tenure extension early morning Sunday by a two-third parliamentary vote.The UN chief said the time gained was ‘useful’ and hoped the players will complete the peace process and constitution drafting in time.He pledged continued UN support.Nnnn

BHOTO JATRA 25 JUNE

Kathmandu, 30 May: Bhoto will be displayed from the Rato Machindranath chariot at Jawalakhel 25 June.The jatra—Nepal’s longest-- will conclude with its display Astrologers fixed the date on the public display.Nnnn

GROSS FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVE FALLS

Kathmandu, 30 May: Gross foreign exchange reserve fell 4.4 percent to Rs.257.05 billion in the first eight months of the current fiscal that ends mid-July, Nepal Rashtra Bank said.The country has a Rs.268.91 billion reserve in mid-July 2010.Gross foreign exchange reserve in uS dollar terms declined 1.3 percent to $3.57 billion in mid-March.The central bank said the foreign reserve situation is comfortable.Rs 117.97 Indian currency was bought for $1.62 billion to meet shortage with widening gap in trade with India.nnnn

AMERICAN HELD CAPTIVE, FREED AFTER EXTORTION Kathmandu, 30 May: Two unidentified persons broke into Thamel-based Hotel Dream Home feigning themselves as Nepali Army personnel and abducted a 24-year-old American tourist, John Robert Schrumpf, at around 2.30am today [Sunday], The Himalayan Times reports..

However, Schrumpf contacted the police after 15 hours of captivity.

“He was set free by the abductors at around 5.30pm in Durbar Marg area after he paid Rs 40,000,” informed DSP Hridaya Thapa, investigating official.

One of the abductors had shown an ID card of Nepali Army bearing the name S Gautam on the pretext of carrying out a security check and took away Schrumpf after 25 minutes from the hotel for “smelling of cannabis”.

DSP Thapa said: “Primary investigation suggests they are serial robbers, who target foreigners in Thamel and surrounding areas.” The kidnappers are still at large.

Schrumpf had been staying in the hotel since May 1 and was to leave for the US on Tuesday.

“They held me captive at a hotel room in Durbar Marg and sought money to set me free,” DSP Thapa quoted Schrumpf as saying.

The victim was forced to call his parents back home for dollars equivalent to

Rs 20,000 to pay a ransom of Rs 40,000. He was handed over to officials at the United States Embassy later.

Narayan Sodari, who was on duty at hotel when the incident occurred, said two persons in their late 20s came around 2 am and said they were assigned to carry out security checks in Thamel-based hotels by Nepali Army, as all Nepal Police personnel were deputed at Constituent Assembly building and neighbouring areas. Nnnn

OPINION

Nepal At The Crossroads G. K. Pakavath writes in The Rising Nepal

IT seems Nepalis have forgotten to smile. Disappointment, apprehension, anxiety and mindless violence have overtaken a country which, in the past, touted its peace-loving generations and wealth of culture over its counterparts not only in the continent but also across the world. Decline and stagnation in virtually every imaginable segment of the society have given rise to the grim forecast that even with the stake of the present government, the situation is unlikely to improve either in the long or short term. Until a few couple of years back, we were at war with the outmoded system of governance, dynastic rule, imperialism and colonisation. Today we are at war with ourselves. Materialistic influences from the developed West have created a crop of leaders who are unconnected with the roots while asserting their ungainly right to follow ideas unrelated to their immediate environment. For the moment, the trend is confined to the upper crusts of the politicians, but the octopus has long tentacles. The second, it is unrealistic to expect a nation of young adults to lead the business enterprise of the state. Yet the conflict for and against investment by outsiders is ongoing. The involvement of the locals is restricted to securing employment. Besides business, Nepalis expect their garbage to be cleaned, their dresses tailored and their hair cropped by others.The third, and equally palpable scenario, is of course political. However, it is more of a war of words, of thundering humbug than a war of ideologies. Both - the one in power as well as the opposition - continue to accuse each other of orchestrating campaigns to discredit the other through lies and murders involving their respective cadres. Political murders in the country are now so commonplace that they have ceased to be a law and order problem. Besides the factional infighting, violence and the rule of the gun also are gradually alienating people from support to a particular party or their political convictions. Mob violence appears to have emerged as the principal currency of protest in post-Jana Andolan Nepal. The trend is disturbing. More than anything else, it signifies the awkwardness of the political process. Meanwhile, the contradictions of the Nepali psyche have continued - unconcern over individual harassment and suffering, and mob violence following a road accident. Violence or the threat of violence that nearly always looms large in a movement these days needs to be subjected to greater sociological examination, and appropriate lessons drawn for the greater good of the democratisation process. Mass mobilisation as a democratic tool, relying solely on voluntary participation of individuals and leading to grand public rallies and marches, is now more or less extinct as a protest form. We have instead the ‘bandh’ culture, which frequently means the forced closure of a factory, office space, business establishment or indeed an entire city, accompanied by wanton destruction. The transition to the present trend needs study, but a few points are in order. The tendency to overwhelm public authority appears to have taken hold as the latter, in many cases, are too willing to be overwhelmed. Under the mistaken notion of being alive to political sensitivity, they stand by and watch violence being unleashed instead of taking in the troublemakers and protecting the victims. The false notion of political sensitivity frequently arises from the fact that the political masters these days have no grassroots links and confuse the apparent for the real. NNNNTwo, it is not infrequently the case that the authorities have almost ceased to take note of peaceful protests. The culture of public discourse, democratic dissent and democratic protest has been subverted as a result. The messy alternatives of public and private lives have turned Nepal into a sea of discontent and pessimism. Crossed allegiances, confused programmes and mixed reaction to issues have further contributed to the surrender of reason and the will to assert. There is a need for commitment and dynamism. Given several decades of Nepal’s subjugation to dynastic rule, one wonders if radical changes in the priorities and attitudes can help cross the frontiers of frenzy and acute frustration as this is a country where the status quo will prevail for a long time. nnnn

EU WELCOMES TENURE EXTENSION

EU WELCOMES ASSEMBLY TERM EXTENSION

Kathmandu, 30 May: Ambassadors of EU, Norway and Switzerland welcomed the extension constituent assembly (CA) term extension.“We urge the political parties to ensure that the agreements they have reached on the integration and rehabilitation of the former UCPN (Maoist) combatants are brought to a successful conclusion.‘The EU, Norway and Switzerland, as long friends of Nepal, reaffirm their full support for support for the peace process.“The aspirations of the Nepali people can only be met if their representatives forge consensus that will bring a new constitution, peace, stability and prosperity,” the statement said.nnnn

YCL TAPLEJUNG CADRE KILLED

Kathmandu, 30 May: Bhuban Limbu, 23, a YCL cadre, was killed in a scuffle at a wedding party in Taplegunj Saturday.Two others were injured.Other details of the fight weren’t available.Nnnn

NEW POLITICAL CONTROVERSY SURFACES

PARLIAMENT VOTE CREATES COMPLICATIONS

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 29 May: Chairman of MJFN Republican Jayaprakash Prasad Gupta laid a claim Sunday to lead a national government to succeed a communist majority of Maoists and UML which Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal leads.He also called Khanal’s reaction he won’t resign immediately after the passage of a vote to amend a constitution to extent a tenure of parliament by another three months ‘unfortunate’.Khanal said he’ll resign only after an environment is created for formation of a national government.Differences surfaced immediately following the vote at 5.30 in the morning Sunday after a marathon parliament session Saturday/ Sunday between Khanal and NC.Following the vote, NC Parliamentary Party leader Ram Chandra Paudel for Khanal’s immediate resignation.Main opposition leader and NC President Sushil Koirala also said Khanal should resign soon.‘The resignation should come soon,” he said.But former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and firm critic of the premier backed Khanal this time.“If the peace and constitution drafting processes move forward, the prime minister’s resignation will come, ’Nepal told reporters.RPP Chairman Pashupati Shumshere JB Rana said the five- point agreement between Maoists, NC and UML wasn’t specific.‘It is not clear. It didn’t mention specifics on implementation. There’s no schedule of implementation,” Rana said speaking at a reception marking the 22nd anniversary of the party’s establishment.‘There’s no reliable basis to believe the articles of the agreement will be implemented,’ he added.Khanal said tussle in frank analysis tussle between parties to grab power delayed constitution “The challenge now is to institutionalize a republic,” he said.He said in the next three months only a draft of a constitution will be drafted.“This is a preparation for another three months,” Maoist Chairman Prachanda said echoing similar feeling.The parties clearly have bought time not for three but six months—the last deadline given by the supreme court last week to announce a constitution to institutionalize a republic.A basic law hasn’t been announced fore three years after monarchy was toppled exactly three years ago by an unelected lawmakers.Parties and ‘international community’ forced King Gyanendra to restore a parliament which had completed its elected tenure through a ‘political’ decision which was unconstitutional.That parliament in a treacherous act overthrew a 238-year monarchy.nnnn

Kathmandu, 29 May: Alok Jain, a top Indian intelligence official with RAW looking after neighbouring affairs, flew back to New Delhi Sunday after parliament approved an amendment bill to amend an article in the interim constitution to facilitate extension of a constituent assembly session by three more months, Avenues Television reported in its 9 PM news bulletin.He flew into Kathmandu by an Air India flight last Sunday.Jain held discussions with top leaders of political parties during his week-long stay before Sunday morning’s crucial vote in parliament.nnnn

FOUR VEHICLES VANDALIZED DURING THARU STRIKE

FOUR VEHICLES DAMAGED IN ATTACKS DURING THARU STRIKE UPDATE

Kathmandu, 29 May; Four vehicles—two buses, one truck and a motor car—were vandalized in Nawalparasi durng a strike called by Tharu Kalayankari Samaj SundayThe strike affected terai districts were the community lives in clusters, especially in the mid and far-West.Besides demanding delisting from a government record describing Tharus as Madeshis, the community also protested what it called the ‘unilateral’ move to extend a constituent assembly by three months Saturday.nnnn

Saturday, May 28, 2011

SUDIP KULUNG RAI WINS TENZING HILLARY EVEREST MARATHON

SUDIP KULUNG RAI WINS TENZING HILLARY MARATHON

Kathmandu, 29 May: Sudip Kulung Rai won the Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon Sunday completing the high altitude race from Everest base camp to Namche Bazzar in 3 hours, 45 minutes and 39 seconds.The race is recognized as the highest in theworld.Ram Kumar Rajbhandari ran the race in 3 hours, 49 minutes and 6 seconds. and Deepak Raj Rai came third completing it in 3 hours, 50 minutes and 51 seconds The marathon on the4th Sagarmatha Day commemorates the first conquest of the 8848 meters high world’s tallest peak Mount Everest by Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Edmund Hillary 29 May 1953.Nnnn

Kathmandu, 29 May: Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (Nefin) President Raj Kumar Lekhi is all set to announce a new political party called Nepali Citizens Party (NCP) on Sunday, Gni Ansari reports in Republica.

´´Until and unless we become our own leaders, we can´t secure our rights. Drawing this conclusion, we decided to form a national party´´, Lekhi told Republica.

Underscoring the need for forming a new party, Lekhi said they were compelled to announce a new party as the political parties in the Constituent Assembly have proved inefficient to resolve problems facing the country.

The party will have a seven-member central committee with representatives from indigenous groups, Muslim comunity, Dalits, women and other backward classes of society.

Lekhi said the new party will form its organization in about 35 district in the first phase.

He said his party will be different from existing political parties from leadership and other points of view.

´´It will be neither like Nepali Congress, which is led by Bahun leaders, and nor like Madhesh-based parties and regional ones´´.

Lekhi said his party will launch a nationawide campaign against corruption and that his party will never call any strike and shutdown.

Recently, Lekhi was criticized by the international community for calling strikes. UK even announced stalling aid to Lekhi-led Nefin.

Danuwar is an ex-secretary of Nefin while Miya is the chairman of Nepal Muslim Federation. Similarly, Rajbanshi is Nefin vice chairman and Chaudhari is the chairman of the Tharu Welfare Council. Likewise Gurung is ex-chairman of the National Indigenous Women´s Federation and Regmi is the chairman of Society of Parliamentary Affairs Journalists.

Nefin, an umbrella organization of indigenous nationalities, had elected Lekhi as president last year. Nnnn

LIFE IN CAPITAL NORMAL AFTER VOTE

CAPITAL NORMAL.AFTER PARLIAMENTARY VOTE

Kathmandu, 29 May: Life returned normal in the capital Sunday morning after a vote in parliament to extend the tenure of the constituent assembly (CA) by three months through an amendment of an article in the interim constitution.For days before e the vote, lift was disrupted in the capital and the rest of the country by crippling strikes for and against the assembly tenure extension.Movement of vehicles on roads was normal and people thronged the market.Newspapers hit the newsstands late Sunday morning as publishing houses went to the press late to cover vote in parliament.Nnnn

THARUS CLOSE DOWN MID AND FAR-WEST

Kathmandu, 29 May: Tharus demanding delisting from a government enlistment of the community as Madeshi closed down districts in the mid and far-West where the community has a sizeable force.Tharus consider themselves as an indigenous group and not Madeshis who they say have settled in the south crossing the open 1,700 km open Indo-Nepal border

Speaker Subas Nemwang read out the letter received from the President’s Office certifying the endorsement in parliament Sunday Parliament was adjourned until Friday 3 June after a marathon session passed an amendment bill to extend the constituent tenure for three months.Nnnn

NEPALBACKING MOHAMED BIN HAMMAN IN FIFA ELECTION

Kathmandu, 29 May: Nepal is backing Mohamed Bin Hamman in Tuesday’s election for President of FIFA, the governing body of soccer, in Tuesday’s election in Zurich, Switzerland.Hamman ischallenging incumbent President Sepp Blatter.“Nepal will vote for Hamman,” ANFA President Ganesh Thapa told Nagarik Saturday before emplaning for Switzerland to participate in the FIFA Congress.nnnn

NEPAL SELECTED FOR HEALTH SYSTEM STRENGTHENING SUPPORT

Kathmandu, 29 May:The Global Fund (GF) has selected Nepal as a pilot country for its new plan for Health System Strengthening (HSS) support, The Rising Nepal reports.In line with the Millennium Development Goals, the GF has been supporting 140 countries in HIV/AIDS, Malaria and TB secors.With an aim to find a sustainable solution to these three diseases and to increase the government’s ownership in the programmes, the GF has now come up with a new strategy and planning to support HSS, Gokarna Bhatta, co-coordinator of Nepal Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) said. The GF sent a letter of interest to CCM a month ago and called to response within this May if it was interested to stand as a pilot country, Bhatta informed.According to Bhatta, the CCM meeting was held and it decided to seek approval for Nepal as a pilot country.The Ministry of Health said it was a great achievement for Nepal as it was selected among 140 countries. After completing the process, the GF will assess Nepal Health Sector Implementation Programme-II before announcing the amount of grant, CCM said.Nnnn

MORE BUDGET URGED FOR EXPORTABLE PRODUCT

Kathmandu, 29 May: Ministry of Commerce and Supplies has asked Finance Ministry to double the budget for Nepal Trade Integrity Strategy programme, The Himalayan Times reports.

“It had been allocated Rs 30 million for the current fiscal year but for the next fiscal year, we have asked Rs 60 million to promote the domestic trade promotion and facilitation,” said national programme manager, Nepal Enhanced Capacities for Trade and Development (NECTRADE) under the ministry Shiva Raj Bhatt.

“Last year’s budget of Rs 30 million was utilised to place generator at the Airport

for the perishable goods’ godown, and remaining

was granted as a part of financial aid for cadmium testing laboratory and for AEC for the agricultural products,” he said, adding that they are trying to utilise government resource that will send positive message

to the donors making them serious towards government’s performance.

NTIS has currently roped in a number of donors that are willing to help study a particular product for its development.

According to him, the ministry has formed a Donor group with German aid agency (GIZ) as donor facilitator that organises meeting in every three months.

“The ministry has arranged two different Donor group meeting by now,” Bhatta said, adding that the first meeting of the Donor group focused on product information and the second meeting highlighted major activities of donors.

Third meeting of the Donor group — scheduled for Friday — however could not meet due to unavoidable circumstances. “It has been postponed for June 13,” he said, adding that the ministry is now preparing a donor matrix that will be helpful to get general idea about the major activities of donors.

“The donor matrix later will be forwarded to Finance Ministry,” Bhatta added.

It is an update of Nepal Trade and Competitiveness Study 2004 and has been prepared at a time when the trade and economic situation of the country was under tremendous stress.

According to the strategy, the government — adopting the recommendations of NTIS into national development planning — has prepared plans under its regular budget.

Currently, international donor agencies are selecting their concerned products for the preparation of project proposals. Among the 19 different products, projects regarding tourism, ginger, and honey have already started, while project plans are being made for noodles, silver jewelleries, medicinal herbs and others.

According to Bhatt, more than number of donors being involved, they need to focus on coordination to avoid duplication in the same product.Nnnn

DUES BEING RECOVERED FROM INDIAN PROMOTER OF CASINOS BY SELLING LAND IN COMPANY NAMEKathmandu, 29 May: The Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) is all set to auction the land belonging to Nepal Recreation Centre (NRC) that operates four casinos in the country. NRC has around 3.5 ropanies of land and a house in Kalimati, The Kathmandu Post reports.

Over the last week, DRI informed NRC twice that if it did not pay the outstanding royalty dues within three days, its property will be auctioned. “We will issue an auction notice next week as NRC did not respond to our letters,” said a senior DRI official. “It can pay the dues until Monday to save the land.” NRC’s two casinos—Casino Nepal and Casino Anna—have to pay Rs 130 million and Rs 110 million, respectively, as of May. The government has already frozen NRC’s bank accounts and assets. NRC owner Rakesh Wadhwa is absconding after the government initiated action against his company. With Wadhwa on the run, Casino Nepal stationed at Hotel Soaltee Crowne Plaza has not paid salary to its staff for the last six months. Wadhwa has already sold 50 percent stake in Casino Anna to two Indian buyers. “We have also warned the new management of Casino Anna to pay the dues at the earliest,” said the DRI official. “We hope it will pay the dues as it is operating well, unlike Casino Nepal.” With the Supreme Court opening the door for recovering royalty dues from casinos and even from hotels that own licenses, DRI also wrote to hotels that are issued licenses to operate casinos. “Hotel Soattee that houses Casino Nepal responded positively, saying that it is ready to pay the dues if NRC’s fixed and movable assets cannot cover the outstanding dues,” said the DRI official. As per the agreement between Soaltee Hotel and NRC reached 18 years ago, the hotel has given the license and the property to NRC on lease for running the casino. In response to DRI’s letter, Hotel Annapurna has made it clear that it is not liable to pay the dues as it was not the one who was awarded the licence. “Instead, the hotel has asked for our help to vacate Casino Anna from the hotel premises,” said the DRI official. Annapurna International holds Casino Anna’s operating license. It was awarded the license when Annapurna International used to operate both Hotel Annapurna and Casino Anna. DRI had also written to the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, asking it inform about the progress made regarding taking action against these casinos. “The ministry is yet to respond to our letter,” said the DRI official. The Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee has already directed the government to scrap licences of casinos not paying royalty. DRI Director General Shanta Bahadur Shrestha said his office will leave no stone unturned to recover the royalty dues.nnnn

IMMEDIATE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PM AND MAIN OPPOSITION SURFACES

DIFFERENCES SURFACE BETWEEN PM, NC; FURTHER DETAILS OF POLITICAL BREAKTHROUGH

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 29 May: Differences between Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal, who is also chairman of UML, and main opposition NC on the timing of the incumbent government’s resignation surfaced immediately after a bill was passed in parliament Sunday to amend an interim to extend the constituent assembly (CA) tenure by only three months.Khanal said he will resign to pave the way for a national government only when an environment is created’ for formation of a successor government while NC parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Paudel demanded ‘immediate’ resignation of the premier..Khanal also said he ‘won’t be a hurdle for a new government of national unity In the next three months, major parties have to complete tasks they couldn’t or didn’t do in the last three years.“The assembly has finally been saved at the 11th hour,” said one leader.The responsibilities won’t be completed if the Big Three-Maoists, NC and UML—again concentrate their entire attention, as they did in the last 12 months, holding on to power or attaining it; hardly any attention was spared for constitution drafting.A bill to amend article 64 of an interim constitution to enable the parties to extend the CA tenure was approved the same day three years when parliament declared a constitution.That declaration hasn’t been institutionalized in a basic law.“Now the peace process will now be completed in one to two months,” said Chairman of MJFN, the largest party in the five-party Loktatrik Madeshbadi Morcha Bijaya Kumar Gachedhar said.Assmebly members claim 80 percent of assembly work has been completed but political players differ on fundamentals to be incorporated in a basic law.Maoists are pushing for a communist state opposed by liberal democrats; agreements of a federal state structure and even a government system—parliamentary or presidential—have been elusive.Parties accommodated demands to reach the agreement Sunday morning.nnnn

FURTHER DETAILS OF POLITICAL BREAKTHROUGH

FURTHER DETAILS OF POLITICAL BREAKTHROUGH

Kathmandu, 29 May: Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal said he’ll resign following the breakthrough b ending a protracted political deadlock.“I’ll resign when an environment is created for development of a national government, the government chief who is also UML Chairman said.“The prime minister has to resign soonest,” parliamentary party leader of main opposition NC Ram Chandra Paudel said.He said former 19,000 Maoist combatants in 28 cantonments and satellite camps will be ‘separated into ’two groups’ for integration and resettlement.He said ‘five to seven thousand fighters’ will be integrated in Nepal Army.“New phase of national politics has begun,” said NC Chief Whip Laxman Ghimere.Nepal Army ‘inclusiveness’ is mentioned in the 5-point agreement after five-party Loktantrik Madeshbadi Front demanded integration of 10,000 Madeshis in state army in phases.Maoist Chairman Prachanda, NC President Sushil Koirala and Prime MinisterKhanal and UML Chairman signed the five-point agreement.Nnnn

332 PRISONERS RELEASED ON FOURTH REPUBLIC DAY

Kathmandu, 29 May: Altogether 332 prisoners who completed half their prison sentences were released on 4th republic day Sunday Sunday was declared a public holiday.Parliament was declared a republic three years ago.But it hasn’t been institutionalized in a constitution.nnnn

CA TENURE TO BE EXTENDED BY THREE MONTHS ONLY BREAKING NEWS

CA TERM TO BE EXTENDED BY THREE MONTHS ONLY (BREAKING NEWS)

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 29 May: Parliament Sunday morning approved by two-third majority a 9th amendment bill to extend the constituent assembly (CA) tenure by three months only; its extended one-year term ended midnight Saturday.Altogether 504 lawmakers voted for the government bill and four against.The bill was passed following a five-point agreement with the Big Three—Maoists, NC and UML.RPP-Nepal voted against the bill and Madeshbadi Front with 71 seats stayed neutral .A preliminary draft of the constitution will be written and integration of 19,000 plus Maoist former combatants will be completed in the next three months.Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal will to pave the way for a national government and past agreements with Madeshbadi parties will be implemented effectively.The Big Three also agreed in their five-point agreement to mend the constitution again.nnnn

ADJOURNED PARLIAMENT SESSION HASN'T RESUMED FUELING SUSPICION

SECOND SESSION OF PARLIAMENT HASN’T RESUMED UPDATE

Kathmandu, 29 May: A second session of parliament hasn’t resumed Sunday morning even one hour after 15-minute adjournment Saturday night of the legislature shortly before midnight following registration of a government bill to amend an interim constitution article to extend a constituent assembly tenure.An emergency meeting of the cabinet is meeting Speaker Subash Nemwang adjourned the parliament session for only 15 minutes after the bill was tabled by Law Minister Prabhu Sah.Top leaders of UML, including former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, KP Sharma Oli and even Defence Minister Bishnu Paudel came out of a meeting of the Big Three following the registration of the government amendment bill which was earlier opposed by main opposition NC.Nepal and Oli are critics of Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal, who is party chairman.They didn’t speak to waiting reporters after coming out of the meeting hall.Details of any understanding between NC and the ruling Maoist and UML parties haven’t been officially announced.nnnn

BILL TO BEGIN EXTEND CA TENURE REGISTERED

Kathmandu, 28 May: Law Minister Prabhu Sah presented a bill in parliament for approval to extend a tenure of the constituent assembly whose tenure would have ended midnight Saturday.The tenure is being extended by amending article 64 of an interim constitution.Main opposition which had been opposing the bill’s presentation the entire week raised no on objections Saturday night Speaker Subash Nemwang then adjourned the first session of parliament proceedings for 15 minutes.The bill was presented after a protest notice of RPP-Nepal against the bill was voted down by majority voice vote.The amendment bill was presented by Minister Sah 15 minutes before Saturday midnight when the assembly tenure would have ended.The bill for assembly tenure extension will now be approved early Sunday morning with Maoist, NC and UML support after a formality was completed to register an amendment bill before midnight Saturday repeating a scenario exactly one year ago when the assembly tenure was extended at the 11th hour by parliament by one year.nnnn

DELAYED PARLIAMENT SESSION BEGINS BREAKING NEWS

DELAYED PARLIAMENT SESSION BEGINS (BREAKING NEWS)

Kathmandu, 28 May: Parliament session began at 11.10 Saturday night 50 minutes before the tenure of the a constituent assembly ends.Speaker Subash Nemwang called the legislature into session more than 15 hours before it was to begin at eight in the morning .The development indicates a bill to be presented by government to extend the assembly term will be approved with the support of two ruling communist parties Maoists , UML and main opposition NC.With the bills’ passage, an immediate political crisis will be averted nnnn

MADESHBADI FRONT THREATENS WALKOUT FROM PARLIAMENT BREAKING NEWS

Kathmandu, 28 May: With less then two hours remaining for the one-year tenure to end midnight Saturday, five-party Loktantrik Madesh Morcha with 71 seats in parliament threatened to stage a walkout from parliament if the Big Three present a bill for assembly tenure in parliament for endorsement without theer agreement.‘We will walk out if three parties present such a bill without our agreement,” Jayaprakash Prasad Gupta, Chairman of MJFN Republican said.Any agreement between the Maoists, NC and UML should be presented for endorsement by the front before presentation in parliament inform of a bill, Gupta told reporters.He detailed demands including immediate resignation of Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal ahead of the formation of a national government,The decision of the Madeshbadi front comes after the Big Three started final round of talks to end a political deadlock before midnight.The front had aligned with main opposition NC is also demanding the resignation of the Khanal government.The front moves indicates its differences with the NC move at a crucial moment.‘Last year under similar circumstances parliament session began at 11.45. This probably will be repeated though it’s unfortunate,” NC leader Dip Kumar Upadhaya said confirming the late night summit of Maoists, NC and UML got underway.Nnnn

NO BREAKTHROUGH TO END DEADLOCK

NO BREAKTHROUGH YET TO END pOLITICAL DEADLOCK

Kathmandu, 28 May: There was no breakthrough to end a protracted deadlock with less then three years remaining for the tenure of the constituent assembly (CA) to end at midnight Saturday.“There’s no point of agreement so far,” admitted Prakask Jwala, senior political aide of Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal.Parties are continuing bilateral ad multilateral talks to find an outlet.Main opposition NC called for the resignation of Premier Khanal for the formation of a national government in direct talks with UML which heads the government with Maoists.Parties are attempting to develop a common ground for assembly tenure extension Groups staging sit-ins in front of the assembly hall for and against the government started returning home from neighbourhood of the assembly complex with the onset of dusk.nnnn

THREE PARTY SUMMIT OUTCOME AWAITED

OUTCOME OF THREE PARTY SUMMIT AWAITED UPDATE

Kathmandu, 28 May: With less then five hours remaining for the tenure of the constituent assembly (CA) to end at midnight Saturday, the outcome of crucial summit talks between Maoists, NC and UML is awaited.Maoists have proposed a written proposal for concluding peace and constitution drafting while UML has suggested four alternatives to end the deadlock.Maoists have come down on their stance and suggested integration of 7,000 of 19,000 plus former combatants “All parties are positive. The assembly tenure will be extended,” said Ram Janam Chaudhary of the five-party Loktantrik Madeshi Front after talks with Maoists.The front previously backed the main opposition NC.Chaudhary said the front presented a set of three demands to Maoists, including recruitment of l0, 000 Madeshis in Nepal Army over three to six months and immediate formation of a national government.Bhaktapur-based Nepal Majdoor Kishan decided to vote for the extension of the assembly tenure to complete constitution drafting.One lawmaker failed at the assembly premises during a wait since eight in the morning for more than 10 hours for the assembly session to begin/Parliament will have to sit for four sessions before any proposals are approved after proceedings start, said Mukunda Sharma, a senior official of the legislature.nnnn

THREE PARTY SUMMIT BEGINS

THREE PARTY SUMMIT BEGINS UPDATE

Kathmandu, 28 May: A summit of the Big Three-Maoists. NC and UML- began late Saturday afternoon.UML has presented a conditional proposal for the extension of the constituent assembly (CA) for not more than six months.In less than seven hours the tenure of the assembly ends at midnight Saturday.Parliament which was to meet at eight in the morning hasn’t started until five in the afternoon amid differences between the Big Three.nnnn

SHITAL NIWAS REVEALS IT IS PREPARINGFOR PRESIDENT'S POLITICAL ROLE AFTER SATURDAY MIDNIGHT

MAOISTS, NC BEGIN DIALOGUE UPDATE

Kathmandu, 28 May: Top leaders of ruling CPN (Maoist) and main opposition NC began consultations Saturday afternoon to find an outlet to the deadlock called a crisis by Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal.The tenure of the constituent assembly empowered draft constitution ends in less that nine hours.Assembly members couldn’t meet the extended one year deadline as well. President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav Saturday held consultations with former speaker Daman Dhungana, who is a lawyer, and another senior lawyer Sindhunath Pyakhurel.Nnnn

PRESIDENT PREPARING HIMSELF FOR POLITICAL ROLE

Kathmandu, 28 May: With little possibility of an extension of the constituent assembly tenure, Shital Niwas is doing homework on the president’s constitutional and political roles after 28 May, Bal Krishna Basnet writes in Kantipur.‘Don’t see other possibilities. The president has to have a political role without wanting it We’re preparing for that,” the president’s secretariat source told Kantipur Friday evening Preparations are afoot to exert moral pressure questioning the legality of the Jhalanath Khanal government, a source said The source said the immediate plan is to give the present government a caretaker role and start a dialogue with all political party leaders Nnnn

BHANU KUMAR TIBDEWALA ARRESTED

Kathmandu, 28 May: Trader Bhanu Kumar Tibdewala, absconding for two years, after Kathmandu district court fined him Rs 12.6 million and slapped a one-year jail sentence was arrested by criminal investigation bureau Friday from the capital.He was sentenced for money laundering.nnnn

SUMMIT OF BIG THREE TO BEGIN SHORTLY

LEADERS ARRIVE FOR SUMMIT OF BIG THREE; FRESH UPDATE ON CRISIS

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 28 May: Leaders of the Big Three—UCPN (Maoist), NC and UML have arrived at the International Convention for a tripartite summit meet.Bodies of the three parties earlier chalked out their positions for inter-party talks Maoists and UML maintained their respective positions with NC demanding implementation of a 10-point demand described as the party’s “bottom-line”.NC is demanding surrender of Maoist weapons and formation of a national government with the inclusion of their party.A meeting of UML standing committee that has just concluded decided to present ‘four to five alternatives’, according to Vice-chairman Bamdev Gautam without going into specifics.‘The ball is in the NC court,” Maoist woman leader Hishila Yami said after a party standing committee. meeting.Parliament hasn’t met even six after its schedule.Speaker Subash Nemwang hasn’t announced a business schedule yet for Saturday’s session ”Weapons exchanged for blood won’t be easily stored. If that’s the feeling, it won’t happen,” Prachanda told a public meeting in the capital Thursday.At least 7,000 police have been deployed around the assembly hall in Naya Baneshwore declared a prohibited area where demonstrations and public meetings have been banned.Thousands of RPP-Nepal activists and youth affiliated with the UML heading the government have converged in Naya Baneshwore for different purposes.RPP-Nepal is demanding assembly dissolution while UML youth are pressing for completion of the peace process and constitution drafting. President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav asked Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal at a meeting Saturday urged national understanding for a resolution.The one=year extended tenure of the constituent assembly concludes in less that 10 hours at midnight Saturday.No outlet to what has been described as a crisis by Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal has been found yet.nnnn

Friday, May 27, 2011

PM SAYS COUNTRY IN CRISIS

UPDATE ON SITUATION

PM SAYS COUNTRY IN CRISIS AFTER MEETING PRESIDENT;OTHER DETAI;LS,

Kathmandu, 28May: Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal said is in crisis after consultations with President Dr.Ram Baran Yadav and called for national understanding to extend the tenure of the constituent assembly (CA) that ends in less than 12 hours at midnight Saturday.“The country is in crisis, There’s no alternative to national understanding,” he said and asked political parties to cooperate to extend the assembly The army and security agencies have been put on high alertA parliament session hasn’t begun even four hours after schedule.Activists of RPP-Nepal have assembled again in front of the International Convention Center where meetings of the assembly and parliament are held demanding the dissolution of CA and fresh assembly elections.Supporters of Youth Association of Nepal (YSN) affiliated with UML heading the government is also picketing the complex pushing for peace and constitution.Nnnn

STRIKES COULD LEAD TO BOOKING CANCELLATIONS NEXT SEASON

Kathmandu, 28 May: tAlthough tourist arrivals in the first four months of Nepal Tourism Year (NTY) have been upbeat, constant shutdowns in May have hit arrivals. Travel trade entrepreneurs now fear that they may affect business during the upcoming tourist season, The Kathmandu Post reports. With NTY running, there was hope that tourist arrivals would remain higher even during the off season i.e. April-May. But, a series of bandas in May have forced tourists to cancel their trip or shorten their stay in Nepal. The statistics of tourist arrivals of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) show daily arrivals have dropped by more than 300 in May from 1,750 in April. Even though tourist arrivals as of May 26 increased to 34,076 as against 26, 634 in the entire month of May last year, entrepreneurs said that the figure is nominal to what they have been expecting as compared to the increased movement from the beginning of NTY. April-June is the period where large numbers of Indian visitors travel Nepal to get relief from the hot summer in the plains. This year, the country has targeted attracting 265,000 visitors from the southern neighbor alone. India, which constitutes the major market of Nepal, has recorded a growth of 38.3 percent in April. According to tourism entrepreneurs, arrivals of Indian tourists would have been much higher in May had there been no bandas. Travel trade entrepreneurs said that the recent spate of bandas could affect not only NTY and the goal of bringing one million tourists but also arrivals next year. “Target of bringing one million tourists is not achievable under these circumstances,” said Rajendra Bajgai, general secretary of the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN). “The political unrest has not only affected the NTY target but also the business of travel trade entrepreneurs for this season.” The commitments made by all political parties that they will support NTY had been spread worldwide to ensure visitors that Nepal is a safe destination to travel now but strikes coming back again had made the situation reverse to convince tourists, said Basanta Raj Mishra, past president of Nepal Association of Tour Operators. “Why do the potential tourists take risk visiting Nepal when there are lots of options for them to visit to other competitive tourism markets,” he said adding that all political parties and the people should comprehend how sensitive tourism sector is. After an interval of 13 years, the country had made an effort to welcome tourists in a big way. It has targeted to bring one million tourists in 2011 of which 700,000 are targeted from air and the remaining by land. Entrepreneurs added that May-June was the time when international tour operators prepare packages and publish brochures for the next year, and the shutdowns could bar them to incorporate packages in the world travel trend brochures.Nnnn

SC MOVED AGAINST MINISTER SAPKOTAKathmandu, 28 May: A writ petition was filed at the Supreme Court today demanding suspension and trial of Minister for Information and Communication Agni Prasad Sapkota for murder, The Himalayan Times reports.

They claimed that despite the investigation started by Nepal Police, Home Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara has publicly demanded the withdrawal of pending criminal cases against Maoist leaders and cadres.

Sapkota’s appointment to the post of minister poses a serious threat to the investigation into Arjun Lama’s murder, while the Home Minister’s demand for withdrawal of murder cases of Maina Sunuwar and Arjun Lama has created a serious threat to the rule of law and criminal justice system, they stated.

Despite an arrest warrant issued by Kavre District Police Office and the investigation on abduction and killing of Lama, Sapkota is enjoying a free life and has declined to surrender to the police. The human rights activists claim that the withdrawal of criminal cases shows the impunity enjoyed by Maoist leaders and cadres.

The petition ads that the United States and Australian embassies have rejected visa to Sapkota after it was revealed that he was involved in abduction and murder of Lama.

The petitioners sought an order to authorities — Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal, Deputy PM and Home Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Ministry of Home Affairs and District Police Office Kavre — to independently investigate into the case by suspending the minister and creating a favourable environment to provide justice to the victim.

The petitioners also called the government to direct the defendant authorities to promulgate a separate Act to maintain integrity of public posts.NnnnPOLICE STRENGTH REINFORCED IN VALLEYKathmandu, 28 May: Nepal Police Headquarters has summoned additional forces from its regional training centres and district posts to help Metropolitan Police Commissioner’s Office avert any security threats on May 28, when the tenure of the Constituent Assembly expires, The Himalayan Times reports..

The additional forces were summoned amidst the string of Kathmandu-centred protest rallies, sit-ins, assemblies and other forms of strikes to mount pressure on the government not to extend the CA tenure.

A highly-placed source, however, refused to give the exact number of additional forces called to the Capital city citing potential security threats to their district base, but said they were the hundreds.

MPCO has already put the Capital city on high alert and deployed more than 3,700 security forces with major focus on vital installations, including the Constituent Assembly building and Singha Durbar.

Around 1,700 cops, a bomb disposal squad, sniffer dogs, special task force and quick response teams, among others, have been deputed to the CA building alone to prevent any untoward incident.

Besides these, the police in association with the local administration has completed its groundwork to impose curfew in and around the CA building, roads leading to Singha Durbar and other sensitive zones

in case the situation deteriorates, in order to safeguard vital installations, lives and public properties.nnnn

NO SURRENDER OF WEAPONS SAY MAOISTS

Kathmandu, 28 May: Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal said there’s no alternative to an extension of the tenure of the constituent assembly (CA) after consultations with President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav Saturday morning.The tenure ends in less that13 hours at midnight SaturdayA session of parliament has been delayed by three hours even though it was scheduled to meet at eight in the morning.A Maoist standing committee meeting decided not to handover weapons as demanded by main opposition as a pre-condition to extend the CA tenure while deciding to be flexible to end a political deadlock and crisis, Spokesman Dinanath Sharma said.Security is tight and has been reinforced around the constituent assembly meeting hallnnnn.,13-YEAR-OLD BOY DIES OF BULLET WOUNDS

Kathmandu, 28 May: A 13-year-old boy of Gurdya, Rautahat,died overnight of bullet injuries sustained at a wedding party.Guns were fired to celebrate the wedding.Two dozen persons of a wedding group were injured when a bus carrying them overturned at Jagarnathpur in Parsa.Nnnn

Kathmandu, 28 May A 16 year-old Briton George Atkinson became the youngest person Thursday to scale the seven highest peaks in seven continents when he stood atop the 8848meters high Mount Everest, the world’s tallest peak, from the north in Tibet, his hiking group Adventure Peaks said.Nepal shares the peak with China in central Asia.Atkinson broke a record of American Johnny Collinson who recorded the feat when he was 17.Atkinson climbed Everest three days before his 17th birthday.nnnnlREVENUE COLLECTION UP 14.7 PERCENT

Kathmandu, 28 May: Revenue collection jumped 14.7 percent to Rs. 158.98 billion in the first 10months of the current fiscal year, finance ministry said.But total collection fell short of the declared government target.Rs 50.48 billion was collected in VAT, Rs.29.11 in customs duty and Rs. 31.97 billion in income tax.Another Rs. 21.17 billion was collected as excise duty, Rs.2.38 billion in registration fee,Rs.2.35 billion in vehicle tax and Rs.21.52 billion in non-tax revenue.Nnnn

`132 WOMEN TO BENEFIT FROM AMNESTY

Kathmandu, 28 May: Altogether 132 women serving prison sentences for abortion will benefit from an amnesty announced by government Friday.Government spokesman and Education Minister Gangalal Tulahdhar announced the amnesty after a cabinet meeting Nnnn